Blood Moon (42 page)

She caught a familiar scent through the stink of blood, shit and fire, and her eyes widened. She had not dared to hope – had been sure she would come across John’s bloody corpse among the dead. She’d convinced herself of this, unable to face having that hope torn away again. She began to move towards the scent and then, out of the smoke, she saw him. He was injured, yes. A moonstruck had left savage claw marks across his face that would never fully heal, and he held his arm where a silver bullet had pierced his bicep, but he was alive. The mask she’d held onto crumbled and she raced to him, gathering him in her arms while the tears rolled down her cheeks.

“Oh, God, Marie! I can’t believe it’s you! I never thought… I never dared to…”

Marie took his face in her hands and kissed him with all the relief and joy she could find. Even in this terrible place, after everything that had happened and with everything that was about to happen, she took this one small moment and held onto it, pulling him to her, kissing him again and again until Andre put his hand on her shoulder.

“Marie, we’ve got everyone that can walk ready to go. We need to move before…”

She pulled her face away from John’s and looked at Andre. “I know. Get everyone loaded up into the transports. Do one last sweep for survivors. We need to be moving in five minutes.”

Andre nodded and moved off, shouting orders to the survivors. John took her hands. “I need to check on someone. There were some children hiding in one of the barrack buildings. I have to make sure they are alright.”

She nodded and let John lead her through the carnage. Single gunshots rang out, each one making her wince. After a few minutes, the gunshots stopped and she felt a strange mixture of relief and despair. It was over. Finally.

The door to the barracks swung open in the wind and she didn’t need enhanced senses to get an idea of what happened here. The remains of what she presumed to be a man were spread all over the entrance. Another man lay unconscious, bleeding from dozens of wounds. She recognised him. Colonel Richards. The man who’d been responsible for running this terrible place. She picked up a pistol from the floor and aimed it at his head. John put his hand on her arm. “No. Not him. Killing the fucker is too kind. Leave him where he is.”

She dropped the weapon and followed John to the rear of the building, to where a woman lay cradling two young children. She could smell the blood from here, but when she checked for a pulse, the woman’s was strong. The young girl looked up at her and smiled. “She’s going to be okay. Matthew too. Is my mummy here?”

Marie smoothed back her blood-streaked hair and smiled. “Yes, your mummy is fine, Sophie. Your Aunt Kasha and Uncle Dmitri too. Come on, I’ll take you to them.”

The other child, a boy, opened his eyes and regarded Marie with a serious expression. His clothes were covered in blood, but Marie couldn’t see any visible signs of trauma on him, even if the blood didn’t smell like the woman’s. “Are you going to help us? My Auntie Sharon’s hurt.”

John bent down and helped the boy to his feet. “Yes, Matthew. We’re going to take you both away from here. Now, go with Sophie while Marie and I help your Auntie.”

The children got to their feet and, hand in hand, ran from the barrack building while John and Marie lifted Sharon’s unconscious body from the ground. As they made their way across the compound to the waiting minibuses, John looked at Marie. “So, what exactly do we do now?”

She smiled at him. “Trust me. I have a plan.”

YouTube Video Posted 30th January 2009.

YouTube Video Posted 30th January 2009.

A woman sits in a featureless concrete room with a table before her. Her hands are crossed and, despite her well-groomed appearance, her eyes glow an almost phosphorescent green. Her face is a mask of barely contained rage.

“My name is Marie Williams, and I am the leader of the werewolf organisation that was once known as The Pack. For centuries, we have tried to keep our existence from you. We have hunted down and killed the uncontrollable members of our kind known as Moonstruck, for your safety as well as our own. As you are aware, recent events have changed all of that. You know that we exist and your government, and governments around the world, have done their best to exterminate us.

“We have lived peacefully among you for decades. However, when your military executed a series of raids on civilian families and placed them in a death camp at Lindholme, just outside of Doncaster, we were forced to take action.

“The attack on the town of High Moor was regrettable, and those responsible for that atrocity have been dealt with according to our laws. However, what your government did next was worse.”

The screen fades to black and is replaced with a series of images. An old man is shown strapped to a hospital bed. His body has been cut open, his internal organs on display, but he is clearly still conscious and very much alive. He tries to focus on the camera, and the words “help me,” are just audible. The screen fades and shows the camp at Lindholme, with people in prison jumpsuits moving around in the snow, lining up to receive food. The screen fades again and the woman returns.

“The British Government, under the direct orders of your interim Prime Minister, placed the survivors of High Moor in the internment camp, along with those taken from their homes on Christmas Eve. They intended to use a thermobaric bomb to wipe them out and, when that failed, sent in the military to finish the job.”

The screen fades again, and then shows corpses piled up in the snow, riddled with gunshot wounds. The camera focuses on a small child, no more than ten years old, with bullet holes across his chest. The camera pans back to show more bodies, covering the ground as far as the eye can see. Then the screen fades and the woman returns.

“We were not prepared to let your government commit such a slaughter without a response. As you can see, we were not able to save everyone. But we did save enough. The last few members of our species are now far away from the brutality of your government. We are removing ourselves from your world. We will no longer protect you from the moonstruck, should any emerge, but we will no longer live among you. I would strongly advise that you do not try to seek us out. If you do, our response will be swift and it will be terrible. Leave us be, and we will extend you the same courtesy. Ignore this warning and… well… I will leave that up to your imagination.”

The screen fades to black.

3rd February 2009. Underhill Military Base, Sublevel Four. 09:52

Colonel Richards’ eyes snapped open and he squinted against the harsh white glow of the fluorescent light. He tried to move, but the attempt sent white hot shards of agony through his body. He tried to speak, to call out, but his mouth was dry and his voice came out as little more than a croak.

A figure appeared, but he couldn’t focus his eyes. It was just a shape, holding a clipboard.

“Try not to move, Colonel,” said a soft, female voice with a welsh accent. “You’ll do yourself an injury.”

His mind swam, but he recognised the voice. Awareness and memory returned. Lindholme. He’d been at Lindholme and something had happened… Something…

It all came back to him and his eyes widened.

Rose Fisher leaned over him and smiled. “Ah, I see it’s all coming back to you now. Good. I was wondering if your mind had survived the trauma. Now you’re back with us, we can begin.”

Rose disappeared and he tried to move his head. He was restrained – arms, legs and head strapped down. Rose reappeared and gave him a reassuring smile. “There there, Colonel. Don’t try to speak.” She picked up a small tape recorder and pressed the record button. “This is Doctor Rose Fisher and the time is 09:55hrs on the third of February 2009. The subject has regained consciousness. We will now begin the experiment.”

9th February 2009. Kozara National Park, Bosnia. 09:52

John got out of the Land Rover and looked at the forest below him. There was no sign of civilisation. Nothing but towering pines and mountains extending as far as the eye could see. Marie got out of the driver’s side and embraced him, then placed a kiss on his lips.

“So,” he said, “this is where it all started. And this is where it ends.”

She gave him a small, sad smile. “Yeah, this is it. Home, or at least, it used to be.”

“Do you think you’ll be safe here?”

“It’s ours now. Steffan liquidated all of the pack’s assets. Every last penny of it. Michael had already made arrangements, a last resort if you like, and bought it from the Bosnian Government. It’s private property now and, to be honest, no one comes here anymore. They haven’t in decades. The legends keep the locals away, and there are warnings posted on the outskirts of the place about unexploded ordinance from the war. It’s as safe a place for us as there is, all things considered.”

John looked back along the trail to where the other vehicles were parked. People were already starting to disembark from the rag-tag procession of trucks, ancient 4x4s and cars. He made out Sharon Fletcher with young Matthew and returned a wave.

“Are you sure that this is the only way? We could hide in plain sight again. I doubt anyone will come looking for us after your warning. Fifty million hits on that video pretty much guarantees that your message got out there.”

She hugged him. “There’s no other way. Now at least, we are out of their world. There shouldn’t be any more moonstruck, and after we’ve been in the forest for a week or two, we won’t even remember that we were human. We’ll forget it all, and hopefully the world will forget us. We’ll fade back into legend. It’s better this way. We tried to live as humans and look what happened. It’s time we let the other side of us live the life it was supposed to. It’s better for everyone.”

John nodded, feeling his heart break. He’d been dreading this moment. He paused, then put his hands on Marie’s shoulders. “I can’t go with you, Marie.”

She pulled away. “What? Don’t be a fucking idiot. Why not?”

“Because I’m not like the rest of you. You turn into wolves. Big, monster bastard wolves, but wolves nevertheless. I don’t. And I can’t give myself over to the animal side of my nature. I’d be a monster. Once a moonstruck, always a moonstruck.”

“No! It won’t be like that, John. You have to come with us. I can’t lose you again. Not after everything.”

John leaned forward and kissed her, then pulled away. “In a week you won’t even remember me. And I can’t take that risk. I have to go.”

Marie threw herself into his arms, tears running down her cheeks and her body shuddering as he held him tight. He returned the embrace, relishing the feel of her in his arms. Inhaling the scent of her. Committing every last detail to memory. Then he pulled away.

“Goodbye, Marie. Be safe. I love you and I always will.”

John turned and walked back to the Land Rover. Marie stood and watched him open the door, then called out to him. “John, what will you do?”

He smiled. “I’ll think of something,” he said, and winked at her. Then he got into the vehicle, closed the door and drove away, back down the mountain without a backwards glance.

Epilogue

28th September 2015. Kozara National Park, Bosnia. 03:00

Walter Parker wiped the condensation from his glasses, then put them back on. “Are you sure this is the place, Joseph? Fifty thousand dollars is a lot of money by anyone’s reckoning.”

The full moon, stained blood red by the imminent lunar eclipse, hung in the sky to the east and, as if on cue, the forest began to echo with howls. Just one at first, but then answered by another, and another, until the cold night air was filled with their song.

Joseph seemed nervous. “Yes, you hear? This is the place, Mr Parker. You wanted the werewolves. We get you werewolves. We go now. Happy hunting.”

“You are not going anywhere. I have to say, I’m not even sure those permits you gave me were official. They didn’t have a stamp on them or anything. You are damn well staying here until I get what I came for.”

Joseph exchanged a furtive look with his companion – a small, greasy-looking man that Walter hadn’t been introduced to. “Mr Parker, are you sure you want to do this? These wolves… they are not like normal wolves. When you kill them, they change back. You aren’t going to be able to keep their heads as trophies. I think perhaps the people coming to your dentist’s office would be upset at a human head mounted on a plaque, yes? Come back with us. I will return your money and you go back to America. It… it is not safe here.”

Walter leaned forward and bared his perfect teeth at the Bosnian. “I have hunted big game all over the planet. One beast is pretty much like another. I don’t need a trophy. I’ll just take some shots of it for my Facebook page and then we’ll head home. But I didn’t come all this way to stop now. Do you understand, Joseph? Am I getting through to you?”

Joseph backed away a step, then spoke to his companion in a flurry of dialogue that Walter didn’t understand. His companion, however, seemed agitated. Walter picked up his hunting rifle and chambered a round. “We made a deal, Joseph. And I’m not going anywhere without my prize. And neither are you or your friend.”